


Thirty Days

by ScissorsParchment



Series: The Wild Star [2]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Ancient China, Kung Fu, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-13
Updated: 2018-09-25
Packaged: 2019-05-21 15:32:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14918019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScissorsParchment/pseuds/ScissorsParchment
Summary: Soundwave is captured by the Autobots, doing what can be expected to keep the Cons' secret. Shockwave, strangely supposed responsible for such a situation, needs to cure Soundwave while continuing his weapons research. Their past and now weave into unanticipated mutual understandings, until the secret the spymaster trying to keep is revealed.25 Sept: Ch.7 "Your Smile"





	1. Sacrifice

**Author's Note:**

> Translation of my own work. [Original version in Chinese (completed) ](http://aprilapplez.lofter.com/post/1d292132_12b89042)
> 
> It is my first English fiction. Please suggest anything and when you’d like additional notes/explanatory texts. I greatly appreciate it.

Soundwave hears a faint drip of water.

The sound came from the slate flooring on his side. He is not sure if it was the blood drop dripping from a corner of his mouth, or the cold sweat from his forehead. He cannot feel the drop from whichever part on his body that has gone numb due to continuous pain.

He is in a dark cell, with limbs immobilized by acupoint block*, and hands shackled by iron cuffs chained into the wall. He can do nothing but sit against the wall and use all his remaining strength in maintaining his clairaudience.

Here used to be the headquarter of the Martial Arts World Alliance**, and now that of the Autobots. Soundwave was once here four years ago, in his fake capture along with other Decepticons, after which they together destroyed the Alliance. Now it is his second time here falling in Autobots’ hands.

Some people rustle along the outside corridor, stop at meters away from the cell and start to whisper. Given the distance and stone wall between them, the whisper should be barely heard for even a master of martial arts.

But Soundwave is the Decepticon spymaster and the telepath feared by the martial arts world. He can not only hear every word but also recognize the two people in the conversation.

“Are you sure, Ratchet?” This is Optimus Prime, the leader of Autobots. Ratchet is the Autobots' chief medic.

Soundwave is alerted. It was these two that interrogated him yesterday. If they had thought of a new way of interrogation after a fruitless one yesterday, they would had come in to start it. so why Optimus is asking Ratchet if he is sure on whatever thing? Could it be…

The other one talking turns out to be Ratchet indeed. “Ninety percent. We can confirm it on checking his acupoint in the back head.”

Soundwave’s heart sinks as he finds that his premonition is true. Whether the Autobots were insisting the procedural justice to show their decency, or they knew that the spymaster could endure sheer torture and keep silent, they had not yet enforced any physical violence against Soundwave in the inquest. Rather, they used drugs and inner power*** to apply a strong hypnotism on him that can cloud the minds of most people and make them say all they know.

But Soundwave is clear that he knows too many secrets. To keep these secrets, he has precautions to this kind of hypnotism. He planted a silver needle in an acupoint in his back head; when it is necessary, a little inner power of himself can drive the needle to stimulate his entire inner power field run into disorder. This will generate severe sharp and burning pains along his nerves across his body that can last for hours, making him super sober and the hypnotism useless.

That is exactly what he did and experienced to go through the interrogation yesterday.

But now Ratchet seems to have discovered the secret of his hypnotism-resistance and wants to take out the needle to make him no longer be able to resist the hypnotism.

“If we really get the needle out of his head, will he… will his life be threatened?” Optimus asks.

“Prime, you're too soft.” Ratchet says, “his life will be threatened as well if he lets us know the secret we want to know. Megatron will not forgive him.”

There is no need to behave like a gentleman, Optimus, be practical as Ratchet, Soundwave thinks. If he really divulges the Decepticons’ top secret, will his Lord kill him? Maybe. But he surely will not allow himself to do so.

The footsteps approach again. Optimus and Ratchet open the cell door and come in, looking at Soundwave’s face that is delicate, slightly angular, and a bit too white due to lack of the recipient of sunlight. They and Soundwave are old enemies, but they are rather unfamiliar with this face: what they are familiar with is Soundwave’s wedged dark mask he always wears in public.

Optimus walks straightly to Soundwave’s side and goes down on one knee to reach out to the latter’s back head. Soundwave struggles to jerk his head out of the way, as if he did not hear Optimus’s conversation with Ratchet just now and thus is panicking about Optimus’s attempt. His jaw is seized right away to stop any movement of his head. 

“Confirmed.” Optimus gives Ratchet a sidelong glance, and then resumes his looking at Soundwave, “Sorry for the offence.” 

As Optimus says, he puts his fingertips on the acupoint in Soundwave’s back head where he just probed out the needle, gathering his mighty inner power to suck the needle out. He feels that the sharp object loosens and begins to slip out.

All of a sudden, a reverse force wraps along his fingertips and pulls the needle deeply into Soundwave’s back head, so deep that he can no longer feel the needle.

“Soundwave!” Optimus retracts his inner power immediately but still not in time.

Soundwave feels an ever-fierce force bursts across his body, as if it is to tear all his nerves apart. He was silent throughout the painful interrogation yesterday, but now he cannot help letting out a groan, heartbreakingly hoarse.

Yet the anguish can no longer sober him. Instead, he feels dizziness growing rapidly inside him.

“You… meant to let Prime go.” Ratchet suddenly understands, “you meant to destroy yourself!”

Too late, Soundwave thinks. A difficult sneer emerges between his lips.

Once somebody discovers the silver needle in his back head and tries to suck it out with inner power, there is a last means to keep his mouth closed. When the needle loosens due to that inner power, he can seize the chance to pull the needle even deeper into his acupoint with the inner power of himself. That will make him falls into a deep coma immediately. Thus, he focused all his remaining weak inner power in his back head just now, and waited for the moment the needle is loosened by Optimus.

He is fully aware of the consequence of doing so. He might never revive again.

Only Shockwave can… but how likely is Shockwave to be able to reach him before it is too late?

Anyway, he has no choice for the Decepticon cause.

“Soundwave is superior to any Autobot regarding intelligence activity.”

He manages to get the words out with his last strength, and then his head lowers, his eyes close, and he sinks into unconsciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Kung-fu fiction terminology]  
> * Acupoint (穴道): “specific points on the body where a needle is inserted in acupuncture or pressure is applied in acupressure (Collins English Dictionary)”. E.g. temple. Acupoint block (点穴): the action of kung-fu masters to temporally paralyze others’ body parts (e.g. legs) by attacking some acupoints on the body parts with a special kind of “inner power”.  
> *** Inner power/force (内功、内力): special strength of kung-fu people. It can be extraordinary attack force and healing power. Kung-fu masters may even apply it to a subject up to several meters away without physical contact. But it is no magic and cannot reach farther. 
> 
> [Others]  
> ** Martial Arts World Alliance is equivalent to the IDW Senate in pre-war Cybertron. It controls the martial arts world instead of the entire society, though (there is still an official government).  
> 


	2. Rescue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Soundwaves' appearance is based on TFP. Shockwave's appearance is based on IDW Senator Shockwave. Other characters, if not specified, are based on IDW.

It is late at night. A tiny figure attaches himself from below to a dripping eave of the Autobot prison.

Face veiled and dressed in full black, his stature is as small as a boy of seven or eight. His watchful eyes and swift movements beneath the eaves, though, is too much for a child of that age.

His movements are not only swift, but also peculiar and monkey-like. Only with such movements and the tiny frame can he fully ensconce himself below the somehow narrow eave, staying out of the sights of the night guards.

He slips to the innermost cell and peeks inside through the transom window. He takes out a small mirror to reflect the moonlight into the window. In a second, he puts away the mirror, and taps the iron window bars with a special rhythm once, and then again.

There is no response in the cell. He stays at the window for another minute before starting moving towards periphireal of the prison.

He should have left right away without any delay, as the taps on the window bars have already exposed him to high risk of being spotted. Luckily, he is still seen by nobody anyway.

And of course, no one has seen his quivers before he turns away.

In a quarter of an hour or so, the tiny spy in black has been in the woods hundreds of yards away from the Autobot headquarter. By his side stands his partner who just assisted him out. The partner is also of small figure, though moderately taller than him, and is so humpbacked that he seems to be never able to stand stright.

The tiny spy unveils, showing a teenager’s face, and starts to speak in the voice of a young adult. He is a dwarf.

“Ravage,” he whispers, voice shivering, “I saw boss in the innermost cell. He was sitting against the wall, head bowing forward and hands chained to the wall. There were few traumas on his body, but I tapped our signal – twice – and he did not response by a slightest movement.”

“Calm, Laserbeak.” said Ravage, “Maybe boss got internal injuries and was sleeping in exhaustion. Or maybe he’s drugged.”

Laserbeak gives a bitter smile. “You know you’re lying just to comfort me. Boss has planted a silver needle into his back head. Only we two knows that apart from our lord, and Officer Starscream and Shockwave. Think boss’s character. Even he is drugged, he would suffer any pain to stay sober using that needle and keep silent. The same for internal injuries, if not so severe as to force him into coma…You know what I dread of! If the Autobots has discovered his needle and drove him into a corner…”

“Don’t despair.” Ravage grabs his shoulders, managing to pacify him, “We shall go back to report first.”

*** ***

In the darkest moments before dawn, a squad materialize on the roof of the Autobot prison and whisk towards the innermost cell.

Laserbeak is at the head of the squad. None of his comrades is so tiny as to be able to hide under the eave like him, however, so this time they have to break in.

The intruders have been on the roof of the innermost cell when Autobot guards detect them. In the middle of the troop stands a hefty man, paper lighter* in his hand, and he blows it to rekindle. The flame casts light on his greyish purple coats and his one-eyed face. Half of his face with the other eye is covered by long forelock.

\- Shockwave, among the three lieutenants of the Decepticon leader Megatron, along with Starscream and Soundwave.

Shockwave ignites the fuse of a spherical object at the hand of his companion on his side using the paper lighter. He grabs the object and casts it onto the eave over the transom window. Immediately the object bursts, breaking a hole on the roof that is wide enough for a man to go through.

He rushes to the hole and leaps down through it, arousing a crack of wood.

Leading Decepticons’ rescue of Soundwave today, Shockwave first dispatched Laserbeak and Ravage, two spies reporting to Soundwave, for reconnaissance. Hearing the report of the two, Shockwave thought that what Laserbeak worried about was probably true. And if it was, and Soundwave really directed the silver needle deeply into his back head acupoint, the needle must be taken out as soon as possible. Otherwise, the spymaster would be under greater life threat hour by hour.

Shockwave knows it thoroughly. Not only because of his position in the faction, but it was he who implanted the needle into Soundwave’s back head. The method of utilizing the anti-hypnotism needle was found by Soundwave, but he was unable to put a needle into such a vulnerable place of himself. So he asked Shockwave, who masters driving others’ inner powers through acupuncture, to do the surgeon.

Thus, Shockwave decided that they shall break into the jail at once, however hastily this action is, instead of waiting for the next night. Yet it is too difficult to break into the thick stone walls of the prison with probably also traps inside. The only weakness of the jail is on its roofs which are like those of ordinary houses.

Shockwave appeals to another expertise of his; he uses firearm. He brings iron-shelled bombs in this rescue, and he just used the smallest one among them that could break the roof without hurting people inside**. But the bomb is also too weak to break all the wood rafters on the roof. He had to break through all rafters using his own body guarded by Iron Shirt*** when leaping down into the cell.

It is pitch black in the cell. He lunges to the front of the prisoner leaning against the opposite wall, kneels and fumbles along the shackles on his wrists, and finds the chains linking the shackles to the wall. He draws his dagger and cuts off the chains neatly by its extremely sharp blade.

Climbing up the rope put down by other Decepticons, Shockwave carries the prisoner back to the roof. It is until now that he confirms in the dim skylight that the prisoner is indeed Soundwave. If the Autobots had played a scheme and let one of their soldiers stay in the cell pretending to be Soundwave, Shockwave would have been attacked, unable to guard against himself. But he must opt to take this risk to rescue his comrade.

And he recognizes Soundwave basically by his clothing and figure. He never saw Soundwave’s full face in over four years since he joined the Decepticon. 

At the moment, Autobot guards have laid siege to the Decepticon squad. But the squad is fully composed of elite soldiers picked up by Shockwave. Ordinary guards cannot stop them, if not led by also elite Autobot officers.

Upon getting away from the Autobot headquarter and Autobots, Shockwave and the squad quickly head for a nearby deserted monastery where they sheltered themselves when Laserbeak and Ravage were on the reconnaissance. They almost reach the monastery when Starscream and the Seekers come on horsebacks.

The Seekers are by no means slow, though. Previously, Megatron, Shockwave and the Seekers were all in the nearest Decepticon branch a dozen of miles away. Shockwave sent Ravage back to report to the branch right before he himself and the others set off to the Autobot prison. Their leader should have commanded Starscream to come to reinforce upon hearing Ravage’s report, and the Seekers should have acted fast as always, for they have reached Shockwave now.

 “Soundwave is in a critical condition. No time to go back to our branch. Give me an hour.”

Shockwave says to Starscream, then he enters the monastery with Laserbeak.

He has checked Soundwave on the way and seen that the spymaster indeed had let the silver needle sink into the deepest of his back head acupoint. Going back to the branch first will delay the treatment to Soundwave, and the needle can shift location due to the bumps on their way and cause further damage. Thus Shockwave decides to stay in the monastery and remove the needle from Soundwave right away. As the one who implanted it in, he has better chance than any others to safely remove the needle.

Staying here means risking being caught up by the Autobots, of course. But Shockwave is not going to concern the risk. Starscream will manage it.

The spymaster has been in his arms since they got out of the cell. If he carries Soundwave on the back, or have him carried by the others, Shockwave is not sure if he can observe or react in time in case Soundwave’s back head injury suddenly gets worse.  

The twilight starts to emerge. Since they left the Autobot headquarter, Shockwave has turned Soundwave to face his chest and cover his cheek with his own side hair, hiding the spymaster’s face from the sight of others.

Soundwave should prefer not to have his face seen by others, Shockwave thinks. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * Paper lighter: ancient China lighter, made from tightly scrolled coarse paper. The scroll is ignited and put in a covered bamboo tube, and it burns very slowly, nearly extinct, due to lack of oxygen. To use it, remove the cover and blow with moderate strength. Then the scroll can rekindle and give out a small flame.  
> ** Iron-shelled bombs has been available in Chinese since at least 900 years ago.  
> *** [Kung-fu fiction terminology] Iron Shirt (铁布衫): a form of martial art that can guard human body against external impact, e.g. stone cast and club. It is a superior and very difficult technique that is owned by only a small part of martial art masters.


	3. The Forge

Fortunately, the removal of the silver needle has been smooth, and all Decepticons return to the branch hours later. After settling down the still unconscious Soundwave, Shockwave goes to report to his leader.

Megatron is in his study, with Starscream, and Laserbeak and Ravage standing by, taking Soundwave’s place. It happens that all of them are aware of the situation of the spymaster.

“His inner condition has been stabilized and he should revive in days. Only until then can we know if his nerve is injured or he will temporally have difficulty moving around.”

Hearing Shockwave’s report, Megatron stays silent for seconds, then he says:

“Tell me the worst possible outcome.”

Shockwave hesitates. He has expected such question from the leader, but the answer is too difficult for him to say it out without any reluctance:

“The worst outcome, quite unlikely though…is…dementia.”

Laserbeak and Ravage turn pale. The armrest of Megatron’s chair cracks under his hand, seemingly already dented by his fingers.

“De-men-tia.” Starscream sneers, “you know this risk, but still you implanted the needle into him. Officer Shockwave, perfectionist that always pursues flawless success! How do you explain?”

He seems to allude that, through the needle implant, Shockwave has intentionally trapped Soundwave in danger. But all on the scene know Starscream well and see that he is just acrimonious as usual. If he has meant to vilify anyone, his words would not have been that bitter yet frank.

Shockwave’s golden eye darkens, and he frowns. He is famous for being emotionlessly calm and purely pursuing logic, but now the sheer logic makes him sulk.

He sulks because of himself. The needle implanting indeed went against his perfectionism towards risk control. Even Soundwave said that if Shockwave refused to help, he would ask the medic, who dared not refuse the spymaster, to implant the needle, and Shockwave is best at acupuncture in their faction. Logically speaking, therefore, if Shockwave did not help, Soundwave would face even more danger.

But Shockwave explains nothing at the moment. Explanation will not help the current situation.

“I have no excuse.” he says, “I will take good care of Soundwave, try to make him revive fast, and think of the countermeasure seeing what is still wrong with him then.”

Starscream scoffs. “Surely you can work out a proper countermeasure.”

No need for his irony. Everybody on the scene knows that back head is the hub of body nerves, and even a miracle-working doctor may not be sure to completely cure a back-head injury.

Megatron still does not speak when the air in the room turns suffocating. Laserbeak and Ravage start to turn gray. They exchange glances and suddenly go down on their knees.

“My lord,” pleads Laserbeak, “boss is so loyal to you. Please, don’t send him to the Forge! That place-”

Once the underground gladiator ring where the Decepticons rose to power, the Forge in the city of Kaon has been deserted and rebuilt into a branch of the faction. Many Decepticons who are so injured or crippled that they become drags of the main troop have been sent to the Forge. Kaon is a notorious sink of iniquity which neither the authority nor righteous factions are willing to visit, so it could be a good place for injured Decepticons to hide themselves and convalesce. Yet the outlaws in the city also fight against each other, and some vicious Decepticons can even threat their comrades once unsupervised by the main troop. The two spies are exactly dreading Soundwave being sent to the Forge as well, if he cannot recover to a proper extent. The Forge would not be that horrible for those with ordinary inner or external injuries, but if Soundwave loses control of his body or even his sanity, he must be badly bullied, and may not get healed ever due to the lack of caring.

“Rise! I have yet said anything.” Megatron waves irritably, then he says to Shockwave, “I give you one month. I don’t require you to make Soundwave fully recover. Make him sane and able to take care of himself.”

“yes, my lord.” Answers Shockwave. What if Soundwave is unable to be sane or take self-care even after one month? Will he be sent to the Forge, or will their lord show mercy considering the spymaster’s merit to the Decepticon cause, and thus find another covert branch to settle him down? Shockwave does not want to anticipate. Anyway, now he has thirty days to investigate and carry out what he should do to get Soundwave recover.

Megatron dismisses all in the room for their duties, except Starscream.

When there are only two in the study, the Decepticon leader turns to his second-in-command, the extremely agile killer in red. Starscream has been silent since Laserbeak spoke.

“You were thinking about Skywarp.” Megatron says with certainty, “The Forge is not a nice place. You were worrying that he led a hard life there and could not recover.”

Starscream shocks in silence. He was indeed thinking about that brother of him who joined the Decepticons with him together. But he was only slightly distracted, which could not be noticed by outside people. It turns out too obvious to be ignored under the eagle eye of his leader, though.  

He is one of smartest mouth, but he does not retort this time. Talking back on this incident can only lead to taunts of his leader, because he really minds this incident, and what’s more…

“He is there because of you.” Megatron says coldly.

Starscream droops his head, his fists clenching, and then loosen. Surely his leader will not let him off.

A year ago, merely four years after joining the Decepticons, the red killer already verified the premonition of his leader on his treacherous nature: he schemed a rebellion trying to overthrow Megatron and take over the Decepticon leadership. Megatron, however, has expected that and defeated his scheme with ease.

Thundercracker and Skywarp, joining the faction together with Starscream as a trine and forming the core of the Seekers, however, were beyond Megatron’s expectation.

Thundercracker, composed as he is, turned out to try to take Starscream’s rap by claiming the latter’s rebellion scheme as his own. But Starscream did not think Megatron would believe that. He stopped his brother and confessed what he had done. Megatron stunned Thundercracker with a single blow, but instead of slaying Starscream with his broadsword, he beat up his second-in-command in the meeting hall. Others thought that their leader had decided to forgive Starscream, but simply did not want to let him off without suffering. Seeing Megatron’s anger grew and his beat heavier in each stroke, however, they started to suspect that the slender red killer would be beaten to death.

Then it was Skywarp. Undisciplined and carefree, Skywarp does not even well utilize his special ability to teleport within some ten yards in a twinkling which should have gained him much advantage in battles. Rather, he frequently uses this ability to trick others – to move behind others and push them down on the floor. He had even heartlessly watched his trine leader being punished by their lord.   

But at that time, when Megatron finally gave Starscream a blow with his full strength, Skywarp suddenly teleported to between the two, taking the place of Starscream to get the solid stroke by their lord. Blood squirted from his mouth like an arrow, and a dozen of his bones broke instantly.

That stroke was much heavier than all Megatron’s previous stokes, leaving Skywarp even far worse injured than Starscream: he was not expected to recover enough to take any duty in a year or so. As a result, he had to be sent to the Forge.   

Now, seeing no response from Starscream, Megatron gives a grim laugh and stride up to him, grabbing his shoulder and smashing him into the wall. Over a full head taller than Starscream, he almost envelops the red killer using his massive body and stares down.

The steely grab on Starscream’s shoulder is free of inner power, but still more than enough to make one cry out in pain. But Starscream merely lets out a slight shiver and does not even gasp. He has been used to such treatment by his lord.

Megatron catches Starscream by his jaw, forcing him to look at himself:

“You seldom care about punishments as long as they’ll not take your life. Be treacherous again, and you will never see your trine mates.”

Starscream finally cannot help himself trembling. His lord means what he says.

He forces himself into a smile:

“Never again, my lord, how dare I.”

Megatron knows that the red killer is simply flattering, and he should feel disgusted. But Starscream is too good at emphasizing his gorgeous appearance with his words and facial expressions. Even his fawning smile can be a seduction, if he lets it be. Megatron cannot be indifferent to this.

“Is there anything you dare not do?” He grinds out a laugh, release his grabs and rubs his rough thumb pulp over the crimson Triones tattoo under Starscream’s left eye. Then he bends himself and fiercely kisses – or bites – on the neck side of the red killer.

Starscream relaxes and wraps his arms, obediently and caressing, around his leader’s neck.

He intended to tease and irritate his lord, and has muddled through as he wished. He would rather be beaten, scolded, or even coerced into violent sex feeling as if torn apart by his lord. All these are better than Megatron turning gloomy and chilling cold, considering how to settle accounts with him.

Same for the others. The fury of the Decepticon leader is not half as dreadful as his cruelty when he is calm.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * It is very impolite to call the names of one's superiors in ancient China and some other Eastern countries. So Megatron is only called "my lord" instead of "Lord Megatron" by the Decepticons, and Optimus is called Prime but not Optimus Prime by the Autobots. High officers in the factions are called "officer", or "officer + name" only if the absence of names leads to ambiguity.
> 
> * Warp’s teleport is downgraded to within 10 yards to be logical for the martial arts world without magics. The 10-yard teleport can be explained by an incredible explosive force to enable an accurate movement.


	4. Unconscious Struggle

Shockwave sits by the bed of himself, looking at the spymaster on it.

The medics have other patients, but to avoid unwanted rumors, details of Soundwave’s injury must be kept secret from fellow Decepticons. Thus, Shockwave has settled down Soundwave in his own room instead and has the medics come when necessary. Probably the most outstanding technologist in the martial arts world, Shockwave is in charge of developing all weapons and fortified structures for the Decepticons. The developments involve confidential matters, and experiments cannot be always quiet, so Shockwave is arranged the most concealed rooms with defensive machinery in both their headquarter and the branch they are temporally in. Few people are authorized to visit his suite, making it a perfect place for a secret patient.

After settling Soundwave in his own bed, Shockwave placed another short bed for siesta behind the folding screen between his bed and a table, and has been slept on it since then. In the day, as he works in his laboratory next door, he also comes to the bed to check regularly as Laserbeak and Ravage in turn guard their boss there.

They have been back from the Autobot prison for two days and six hours. Soundwave has not yet revived, his pulses steady, but his risk of getting worse increasing as time goes by. Further, he hasn't eaten anything for at least four full days since he was in the jail. He is not in a deep coma and can be fed with saline and sugar solutions, but that provides limited help to prevent him from getting weaker and harder to recover. 

Shockwave glances at the mask of the spymaster before he turns away.

He has asked Laserbeak whether his boss has an extra mask as a standby, and after getting an affirmative answer, he got the mask and put it on Soundwave again. He is not quite sure about his consideration of doing so: he should not mind such minor details that Soundwave may feel uneasy if him wakes up unmasked. Perhaps he just wants to be logical by keeping Soundwave at his usual masked state.

While his mind is wandering around, he suddenly feels that the breaths of the one aside have changed paces. Immediately he turns his eye back to Soundwave.

The spymaster’s breath, used to be steady and a bit slow, is turning shallow and fast. His arms and shoulders even start shivering slightly. Shockwave takes his pulses and finds them also get disordered.

Shockwave reaches out to the buckle of Soundwave’s mask behind his ear, clicks it open and takes the mask off. He needs to see the facial expression of the patient in order to investigate his situation.

Soundwave turns out to have been frowning and biting his lip, seemingly to be enduring something. His fingers curl and poke into his palms. His chest undulates for several more times, perspiration starts out on his brow, and he cannot help but slightly parts his lips.

He mouths the word “no”.

Shockwave instantly presses several acupoints on the spymaster’s neck and chest with his fingers, releasing a blocking inner power. Seeing Soundwave slow down his breath and then slip into a deeper lethargy, Shockwave pulls out a handkerchief, wipes the sweats off the spymaster’s forehead, and puts the mask back on him.

Now Shockwave rather feels relieved. Soundwave looked no way like delirious just now, but instead like a clear-minded person trying to think and control himself in a nightmare. He cannot have demented.

But it is still dangerous to Soundwave if his abnormal situation just now recurs. The acupoint blocks Shockwave applying to him can suppress his disordered inner power flows and reduce the injury to his nerves made by the flows. But the blocks can also delay his wake-up, and those power flows, suppressed but not really back into order, will still more or less hurt his nerves.  

There are special inner power practices which can reorder people’s inner power circulation, or even speed up the circulation in a mild manner, so as to help the patient revive sooner. But Shockwave himself does not master a practice of that kind.

As he gets up to inquire the medic that who should he refer to, the name of the very candidate comes into his mind.

 

“you need my Null Power?” Asks Starscream as he looks at Soundwave on the bed, and then Shockwave. His long, thin and uplifted eyebrows rise even higher.

Not Null Power itself, Shockwave say silently. Null Power, the unique inner power practiced by Starscream, can impair the others’ fighting abilities by hindering and disorganizing their inner power circulations. Applying Null Power to Soundwave will only make his circulation more disordered. Shockwave is sure that Starscream knows what he exactly wants from him, but also expects him to pretend that he does not. Most people are not frank with secrets of their martial art practices.

“I need your means of inner power tuning as you practice Null Power. You must have that. To practice something like Null Power that hinders and disorganizes other’s inner powers, you need to first distort the inner power of yourself in the same way. If you were not also good at inner power reordering and acceleration, you should have got into great trouble practicing Null Power.” 

“You see it through. No surprise for Shockwave.” Starscream rises his eyebrows once again, and then he sits by the bed, seemingly about to help Soundwave sit up and apply the inner power reordering to him. 

But Shockwave stops him again, not expecting that it is so easy to get him to help. Starscream is arrogant and does not really get along well with Soundwave.

Starscream smirks with his piercing and raucous voice.

“Do you worry that I will take this chance to murder our spymaster? I would have done so much earlier if I had hoped him to die. I may not beat you in a one-to-one fight on a battleground, but it does not mean that I will fail murdering one that cannot guard himself, even he’s under your protection.”

Shockwave’s eye darkens, knowing that Starscream is not overstating. Murdering is nothing like military skill combat, and it can be extremely difficult to protect another’s life under Starscream’s all-pervasive assassination attempts as a professional killer. Megatron will sure to hunt down him if he really tries to kill Soundwave, though.

You can hope that Soundwave lives but cannot recover, so that he has to go to the Forge, and will no longer threat your position as the second-in-command, Shockwave thinks. But he does not want to argue on this point at this moment.

“I do not.” He answers, “what I meant is that you need to connect your inner power with his and focus on reordering his inner power for tens of minutes. During that time you will be unable to guard yourself.” 

“So, should I afraid that you will take that chance to do harm to me?” Starscream’s facial expression clearly says “it’s absurd”. “Is Shockwave one of those who will take advantage of others’ vulnerable situations? No to mention that if I get injured during the treatment, so will Soundwave with his inner power linking to mine, and you won’t extricate yourself from that. Now that our lord wants to save our spymaster, and I am helping only to follow his order. Must I refuse to help until you report that to our lord and get him force me to help? On the other hand, who dares to protect someone our lord does not allow to save? Except for my two stupid brothers – okay, I again digress to a thousand miles away.”

He shakes his head as if to throw his last words off his mind. Then he sits Soundwave up and seats himself behind him, cross-legged, ready to place his palms on Soundwave’s back to apply the inner power reordering.

“Thank you.”

Shockwave finally answers and helps get Soundwave’s legs crossed as well and upper body straightened. Then he steps to the back of the folding screen and sits by the table there, the two on the bed out of his sight. For people in the martial arts world, their unique inner powers are most valuable assets for battling enemies and saving their own lives. The way they practice such powers, like what Starscream will show as he treats Soundwave, can leak the secrets of their powers and is thus inconvenient for others to watch. Meanwhile, Shockwave is still sitting nearby and can easily attend to unexpected conditions during the treatment.

Acrimonious and straightforward as he looks, Starscream is actually very crafty, and it is hard to tell genuine and fake words of him. Thus Shockwave does not actually believe his explanation on his willingness to help treat soundwave. But at least he agrees to help, thinks Shockwave, and he agrees to let me stay aside at his moment of vulnerability.

And the two brothers of Starscream, Thundercracker trying to take the rap of his rebellion scheme and Skywarp taking his place to get their lord's deadly stroke, are indeed willing to risk their own lives to protect their trine leader. Starscream is treacherous and not popular even in his own kind, but at least he has such two brothers. Is there anyone willing to protect Shockwave himself, or Soundwave, at all cost?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * The Null Power disordering one’s inner power is adapted from the Null Ray paralyzing a mech’s circuit in official Transformers works. Starscream used Null Power to fight Proetus in ‘Wild Star’.


	5. Revival

Shockwave lies on the short bed, staring at the skittering light of the oil lamp on the table aside. It is the small hours of the fourth day after he came back to their branch. 

He is waiting for the tinkle of bells behind the folding screen.

Soundwave has been in his lethargy even since his inner power was successfully reordered by Starscream the day before yesterday. Shockwave called Laserbeak to the spymaster’s  bedside and told him the seemingly nightmare Soundwave had experienced. Then he asked the tiny spy if Soundwave had any awful experiences of being coerced back to his time in the Martial Arts World Alliance, so awful that it could get him a nightmare.

“I mean no offense to your boss. I ask it only for inferring whether he is still in danger.” Shockwave explained.

In the ‘nightmare’ Soundwave had shown no panic or anxiety, but only a feeling of suppressed and forbearance. Thus, Shockwave speculated that the ‘no’ the spymaster said had suggested his being forced into some very unfavorable situation instead of anything he worried about. Few have been able force Soundwave to that extent since the Alliance was defeated by the Decepticons and he moved to Megatron’s side.

Laserbeak casted down his eyes. “He has, like most people reaching his position… but I do not know the details. Even if I know, I dare not tell about them without his permission. I beg your pardon for that.”

Maybe there is indeed no need to ask, Shockwave agreed to Laserbeak silently. Who could be free of ugly memories before climbing to a high officer position in a faction like the Decepticons?

“Never mind, I only need to know that he has.” He answered, “but Soundwave has been conscious in his dream, so he should revive in a day or two. Now we need to pay extra attention to any unexpected situations. Do any of you spies have anything with bells that can be held in his hand, like a bracelet? So that I can be instantly warned if he makes a slight move.” All Decepticons in the branch are outlaw males, unlikely to have jewelry of an androgynous style like a bracelet with bells. But spies may have such things for disguise purpose.

“I have one.” Said Laserbeak as he turned to one side and reached into his underwear from the collars, pulling out a small cloth pocket. He turned back, took out from the pocket a small circular object wrapped in a cloth strip, and untangled the strip to show a silver bracelet. There are several soybean-sized bells on the bracelet, usually soundless for being wrapped tightly by the cloth. 

Shockwave took the bracelet and looked at it.

"Did you get it in your childhood?" He asked. The bracelet was of the size for a child of five or six, far too small for even the present tiny figure of Laserbeak. Treasured up by Laserbeak like an amulet, the bracelet might be indeed one for exorcising evil spirits when he had been very young, similar to a longevity lock.

“Boss bought me it ten years ago. Ravage also has one.” Answered Laserbeak.

Shockwave put the bracelet around Soundwave's fingers, so that the bells would ring once his figures move. Laserbeak watched them without asking if he could more straightly stay by his boss's bedside the whole night. It would be inappropriate to let Shockwave, as the room owner, to sleep elsewhere, or to accept another one beyond his most trusted ones staying so close awake when he was sleeping. 

But until now, 4am at the second night, Shockwave has been awake except for a short nap. For the convenience to get up and attend to Soundwave once the bells ring, he has even kept the oil lamp lit all night long.

Again, he thinks of the silver bracelet. Ten years ago, Laserbeak and Ravage should be around nine years old, and Soundwave fifteen or sixteen, not long after they started to serve the Martial Art World Alliance. Before that, the three had been homeless  paupers, which is not well known but not a secret either among the Decepticons. Certainly they had not afforded silverware then. With their figure  deformities, Laserbeak and Ravage must had been badly bullied, maybe not even alive today had they not been protected by Soundwave.

Shockwave is not surprised that Soundwave would buy the spies silver bracelets as amulets, not only because they are the persons closest to Soundwave. Silent and wearing a mask all day, the spymaster looks dark and unreadable, and his telepath ability further makes others keep him at arm's length. Those in the inner circle of the Decepticon leader, however, know that Soundwave is just used to conceal his feelings. He is not particularly ruthless among the Decepticon high officers; from time to time, his behaviors in their operations actually reveal that  he thinks of o thers.

Shockwave knows that the really unfeeling one is himself.

He used not to like this several years ago when he was a Senator of the Alliance. By then, he was sociable, enthusiastic, and moreover an outlier among the Alliance high officers, caring much the sufferings and livelihood of their people.

That seems another life to him now, but he still remembers it. Shadowplay deprived his emotions, but not his memory.

Yet all that has passed. Now he rather prefers to keep himself from any emotions, so that he will be unaffected by other things or people and more likely to achieve his goals. 

He can see that Soundwave dislikes him, especially about his unfeelingness. His being unfeeling means that he lacks the passion and loyalty of the spymaster. Soundwave does not  advertise , but nor does he try to cover up his loyalty to the Decepticons or Megatron. The spymaster firmly believes the Decepticon cause of equality, of making social statuses of all decided by their deeds rather than their class origins.

For Shockwave, on the other hand, Megatron provides him a roof over the head, as well as the resources to continue his favorite technological studies - to study on weapons and infrastructure for the Decepticons' use. Surely he owes Megatron his paying back to the latter's appreciation and patronage, but basically they are doing a deal. He has neither passion nor objection to the claimed Decepticon's cause; he never concerns if what Megatron does is really heading for the cause. This should have been disloyalty in the eyes of a  stalwart like Soundwave.

It is a pity, thinks Shockwave, that he nevertheless rather appreciates Soundwave. Apart from the capacities as a spymaster, Soundwave is clever, quiet, careful, studious and knowledgeable, and even masters Chinese zither and calligraphy. These features well fit the tastes of Shockwave, especially among the Decepticons, the vast most of whom are of too low education levels and too unfamiliar with elegant arts to attract him.

But impression is a mutual thing. As Soundwave does not like to see him, neither would him pay back friendliness. Indeed, he is paying meticulous care to Soundwave, and keep watching him almost throughout the night. But this is only because that he, Shockwave, wants to keep his fame of being reliable. As Soundwave got injured by the silver needle he planted into him, Shockwave will take the responsibility, even that was not his fault, and try his best to heal the spymaster. Further, he is a perfectionist - as Starscream said - on all his works, including the silver needle implant. Surely he will not allow it to end up with such an ill-effect... 

A sudden faint sound of the silver bells comes from behind the folding screen. Shockwave jumps to his feet and  snatches the oil lamp, getting to the bedside behind the folding screen in seconds.

Soundwave lies still, and Shockwave does not know if he has opened his eyes: the spymaster's mask has single-side reflective patches over the eyes, making him see clearly from inside while others unable to see his eyes. But he turns his face towards the light of the oil lamp, so he must have been awake.

"Soundwave, we have been back to our branch. How are you feeling?" Shockwave sits by the bed as he asks.

Soundwave does not answer, but his breaths pace up again. Unlike in his nightmare the day before yesterday, this time he looks anxious. He reaches out his hand on the outer side of the bed, seemingly fumbling for something. 

Soundwave just revives from a long coma, Shockwave thinks, so he may have difficulty responding to his surroundings, or perhaps his vision is still blurred and cannot recognize me. He put the oil lamp beside the pillow, unstably though, and put his hand on Soundwave's:

"Soundwave, it's me, Shockwave." 

The technologist not only just shows his right face, but has just the right hand. His left hand and wrist have been replaced by a prismatic apparatus that can eject steel needles as hidden weapons, with a hook on the top.

Soundwave's hand, smaller than Shockwave's, in return catches the latter's hand, his fingertips poking hard onto the latter's palm. Shockwave feels the cold sweats on the hand seizing him. 

"Shockwave..."

Soundwave finally whispers difficultly. His body sinks onto the mattress, and he says nothing more. Shockwave takes his pulses and realizes that he slips into a slumber once more.

Seeing Soundwave sleep shallowly then, Shockwave knows that he probably witll wake again soon. He does not call the medic, as Soundwave's breaths and pulses have been back to normal, and the medic is unlikely to figure out anything wrong with him. But neither does he feel like to rest on his short bed any longer. He takes a round stool from behind the folding screen, puts the oil lamp on it, and sits by the spymaster. 

He waited for another two hours before Soundwave finally wakes up. This time the spymaster can sit up with his help. 

"...Thank you."

Soundwave says as he tilts his head, facing Shockwave. He moves stiffly and his voice remains coarse, but by saying "thank you", he should have guessed that it was Shockwave who took the needle out of his head and attended to him. 

So Soundwave is totally sane now. Shockwave thinks with relief , and then he feels  an onset of drowsiness. He is of extraordinary strength, but he has been almost sleepless for two days and nights.

"Don't mention it. Just now you woke up but then fainted in anxiety. What happened?" He asks.

Soundwave hesitates a little before he answers. On hearing his answer, Shockwave's heart sinks and he knows why the spymaster was so worried a while ago:

"I ... cannot hear clearly. I  can barely understand you only by adding my guess from your lip movements..."

For others, hearing impairment may just reduces their combat effectiveness, yet hearing is to spies as the  dominant hand is to swordsmen. Worse Still, Shockwave knows the mechanism of the spymaster's mind-reading ability. Thanks to his gift and incredibly hard self-training, Soundwave can perceive the subtlest variations in the speakers' voices, tones, breaths, facial expressions and movements, and masters questioning skills and mental analysis. That is why he can tell others' true words from lies and infer whatever in their minds with  frightening accuracy.

Thus, supernormal hearing and vision, especially hearing when it comes to Soundwave, is a must for such telepathy.

In other words, Soundwave will be unable to read minds if his hearing does not recover.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *It is illogical to have telepath by reading brain waves in Kung Fu fiction. Soundwave's 'telepath' here is actually polygraph-accurate hearing and observation plus psychological analysis, which is still like a superfunction and gets the Decepticons much advantage in his time.
> 
> *Ancient China, despite of having remarkable scientific achievements, does not have a scientist title or a collective name of natural sciences. Thus, Shockwave here is referred to as a technologist, and his research referred to as technological instead of scientific.
> 
> *Longevity lock ([introcution here](http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/ezine/2007-07/23/content_5441244.htm)) is a traditional Chinese amulet for children; parents 'lock' their children up so that evil spirits cannot take them away. An silver bracelet serves a similar function as it 'locks' one's wrist.


	6. First Disapproval

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From this chapter, I switch to past tense which is more standard for a novel. Sorry for the inconvenience.

"In what way you cannot hear clearly? Is the sound you hear too low or is there too much noise?" Shockwave asked. He slowed down his speed to ensure that Soundwave could understand by hearing more clearly or reading his lip movements.

"As if there were membranes over my ears. Also ringing ears and dizziness." Answered Soundwave as he leaned his palm against his brow through his mask.

Not too bad, Shockwave thought. Compared with finding the sound too low, feeling membranes covering the ears is more likely to be temporal hearing damage that would recover with the rest of body. Nor it is uncommon to have ringing ears or dizziness after reviving from a head injury, and the hearing shall also get better as these symptoms fade with time. But if the symptoms are unable to be relieved, one cannot even keep balance, let alone keeping his fighting capacity.

"How long was I in a coma?" Soundwave asked, and then he took a look at the silver bracelet around his fingers. "This is... Laserbeak's. You are using it as an alarm bell?"

"Four days and fourteen hours. You get it right on the silver bracelet. On the third day, your inner power circulation went into disorder, as if you were caught in a nightmare. Probably you also have impression on that. Later, I was afraid that you would get worse, so I kept watching you at the night and used this bracelet to alarm me at any time."

"So much bother for you...at that time there seemed someone reordering my circulation with gentle inner power. Was it you?"

Shockwave shook his head. "It was Starscream. What he used to treat you was the inner power tuning he used to practice Null Power."

Soundwave did not reply, appearing to find it unexpected that Starscream would help treat him.

"Were you really having a nightmare then?" Asked Shockwave.

He saw Soundwave tensing slightly for a second.

"Recalled my past half-asleep. That is not worth mentioning." Soundwave admitted seconds later.

"That is enough. I just want to make sure that you did not have other conditions then." Shockwave was not lying. If Soundwave was not in a nightmare then, he must further investigate the reasons to prevent any hidden danger of his patient.

"We came to this branch mainly for your firearm research." Soundwave said, "but you have spent so much time on me. Does our lord allow that?"

"Our lord gave me a month to treat you."

"How about after one month." Soundwave lowered his head, his tone unlike questioning, but rather like doubting that if he could sufficiently recover in a month.

"He did not say." Shockwave knew that he could say something comforting to show his comradeship, like Soundwave's loyalty and contribution was widely credited, and their lord could not abandon him just because he could not function as well as before. But he was the unfeeling Shockwave.

"If I am still like this after a month, I had better ask for going to the Forge myself." The spymaster gave a low and bitter laugh behind his mask.

Shockwave suddenly stared at him and said through his lips tighten into a straight line:

"So your loyalty is just worth this much?"

Soundwave slightly upturned his face, straightly facing Shockwave. Shockwave ignored the seemingly frozen spymaster and went on, his voice raised:

"Our lord knew that you might have permeant nerve damage and might never fully recover. But still he asked me to treat you, requiring only your sanity and being able to take self-care in one month. He should have believed your determination and that even you lost your past strength, you could bounce back and continue to serve the Decepticon cause. What do you turn out to think?"

Soundwave lowered his head and then turned his face again to him, voice still bitter but calmer now:

"Your critic is quite right. I have no right to be dejected."

"I apologize for my offense." Answered Shockwave. He understood that Soundwave said disheartened words likely just due to the hit of impaired hearing he got right on revival, and that he should calm down in a while. But still, Shockwave could not stop goading the spymaster. He found himself unable to see a deject Soundwave, even just temporally. Further, if Soundwave truly lost heart, he would be rather disappointed and could not remain out of that.

The shadowplayed him should not have such a mood.

That is because you are responsible for healing him. If he loses heart, he will not well recover, and that would be your fault, said Shockwave quietly to himself.

"It is inadvisable that you meet others at the moment. You had better stay in my place until your situation gets stable." Shockwave switched the topic. He needed not to further explain: now Soundwave was low in strength, hearing unclearly, and even unlikely to walk very unsteadily in his dizziness. Anyone meeting him would saw that his injury was troublesome. That might lead to rumors about him and demoralization of fellow Decepticons. And in the branch, it was Shockwave's place that other Decepticons stepped in the least frequently.

"If you need to arrange work to your spies, you can talk to them in the hidden passage leading to this room. No one outside my house or in the lab will hear that." By saying the one in the lab Shockwave referred to himself. Then he stood up. "It is almost eight o'clock. I am going to report your revival to our lord."

"Wait a minute." Soundwave said, "There is one thing I need to report to our lord later, but I should tell you first."

He saw Shockwave turned his eye back to him, cautiously:

"When I was captured by the Autobots, the very thing they asked in the interrogation was why we suddenly took control of the North Mount. Perhaps soon they will find the nitre cave. You have to be careful."


	7. Your Smile

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The contents about gunpowder and firearm in this work are for literature purpose only, the scientific quality of which are not guaranteed. Please do not imitate relevant things done by the characters.

Shockwave stood at the door of the side compartment in his lab, knocking at the door.

“Soundwave.”

Days before, hearing Shockwave report the spymaster’s revival and warning, Megatron and Starscream went to Shockwave’s place to see Soundwave and discuss about the nitre cave.

Private firearm manufacturing had always been strictly prohibited by the authority. But now, in the waning year of the imperial government with turmoils across the martial arts world, not only outlaws like the Decepticons, but the Autobots as the leader of the righteous factions were also engaged in firearms. Nitre, the key raw material for making gunpowder, was made from earthy nitre ore purified by plant ash. Most nitre mines, typically in limestone caves, were controlled by the government, making nitre supply scarce even on the black market. With limited nitre stock and part of it set aside for making necessary weapons, Shockwave had to keep a strict budgeting on using nitre when experimenting new firearms for the Decepticons.

Months ago, in the mountain a dozen miles north to one of their branches their leader was currently in, the Decepticons discovered a cave containing a large amount of high-grade nitre earth. The cave had never been discovered before, thanks to its uninhabited surroundings and very well concealed entrance. Due to the great value of nitre, Megatron decided to immediately exploit that cave, even the North Mount was just within forty miles to the Autobot headquarter, making their activity there easily spotted by the Autobots.

To safeguard the mine, Megatron himself came to the branch with his three lieutenants. There they dealt with some disputes on turfs and smuggled goods with other gangs to disguise their true purpose of coming to the branch. It was during a spying mission related to those disputes that Soundwave had got captured by the Autobots. He seemed to have made such a blunder to get into trouble in a secondary task for disguise.  

But upon his revival, Soundwave told his leader and the other two lieutenants that it was Optimus that had led an Autobot troop to intercept him. And then, in the interrogation, he had been kept being asked that what on earth the Decepticons were doing on the North Mount. Obviously, the Autobots had been highly suspecting of the Decepticon activities on the mount; they had captured Soundwave exactly for this reason, which had been even their top priority to be carried out by the Prime himself. Soundwave could not be blamed for falling into their hands.

Now eight days had past since Soundwave’s capture, The Autobot might have made new progress on their investigation into the North Mount. The Decepticons had to take out countermeasures. Anyway, the nitre mining needed to continue. Megatron then decided to notify the Decepticons in both the nitre cave and the branch to be on high alert for Autobot attacks. Soundwave would send out the spies to find out how much the Autobots had known about the North Mount, and as the earthy nitre ore needed to be purified at the mine, Shockwave would work on how to speed up the purification process. Starscream would arrange their men to carry the purified nitre back to the Decepticon headquarter as soon as possible.

During the meeting, Soundwave thanked Starscream for his help, making Megatron cast an interrogative glance at Starscream. Then Shockwave explained to their leader the help Starscream did for healing the spymaster.

“Don’t mention it. Aren’t we all brothers?” Starscream just said with a smile.

 

And now there had been a few days after that meeting. Unable to work outside, in these days Soundwave had not much to do apart from arranging the spies. After he regained some strength and his hearing recovered to being able to catch others’ words said to his face, Soundwave borrowed Shockwave the side compartment of his lab. He asked Laserbeak to fetch his toolset and materials for making disguise masks* and started making masks in the compartment. Shockwave knew that the always diligent spymaster was not only keeping himself busy, but also training himself to concentrate with ringing ears and dizziness, trying to recover his working capacity as much as possible.

When Shockwave knocked at the door of the compartment, Soundwave had been in it for over four hours. At ordinary times, Shockwave would not care if Soundwave kept working for a day and a night. But now Soundwave was his patient, and it would be bad for his recover if he worked too hard.

Hearing Soundwave ask him to come in, Shockwave opened the door and entered the room. There was a human's face mold on the table before him, on which covered a seemingly finished disguise mask, lifelike just as a real human face. Sitting behind the table, Soundwave apologized to him, saying that the mask was under the final adjustment that could not be interrupted, and asked him to wait for a while. Not minding his working procedure being watched by Shockwave, the spymaster continued with the mask using the needle-thin carving knives in his toolset. He completed in five minutes, and then took the mask off the face mold and put it in a cloth pocket.

Shockwave looked at the face mold, now uncovered with the mask, and found himself recognize that face:

Barricade?" He called out the name of a Decepticon reporting to Soundwave, who was assigned sniping tasks occasionally besides his regular spying ones.

"It is he. I have made such molds directly from the faces of several of our intelligencers and used the molds to make them masks." Answered Soundwave, "A few of them can also make likewise masks, but my handicraft is better." Tailoring masks for people with molds made from their own faces could certainly make the masks better fit their faces and more realistic, the spymaster indeed had been making much effort to facilitate his subordinates. "You planned to work out a new iron bomb** in this branch. Now our lord plans to return to our headquarter in the middle of next month. I hope you do not mind my asking, but can you realize your plan in the fewer than thirty days left?"

By saying that he hoped Shockwave did not mind his asking, Soundwave meant to clarify that he had no intention to spy the other’s work, but was just concerning this key affair of the Decepticons. The high officers had no rights to interfere the duties of one another, and unless necessary, Shockwave rarely talked about the progress of his research. Most renowned technologists like him would more or less reserve on their works.

“Not at all.” Shockwave shook his hand, “The progress has gone well so far. Want to come in and see it?”

The pair entered the laboratory. On one side of the lab stood a jungle of shelves and strangely shaped stoves. On the other side were a row of long tables, with a variety of reagents and instruments on them. On the middle table there were several castings with fuses, in largely round shapes, but not quite the same with ordinary bombs Soundwave had seen before.

“the bombs appear to have alternations on the shells.”  

“Not only the shells. The gunpowder has been filled much more densely and the gunpowder particle has also been altered.” Answered Shockwave.

“Their powers must have been boosted.” Said the spymaster with an admiring tone. Not specialized at firearms, he still could imagine the difficulty and usefulness of each alternation Shockwave had made. For example, to fill the gunpowder at higher density, subsequent problems like incomplete gunpowder burning and the risk of spontaneous explosion of the bomb must be addressed. Also, to improve the gunpowder particle might be for speeding up its burning, so as to generate more destructive power at its explosion; or it might be for making it safer and less possible to self-ignite.

“I will take them to the wilderness for an explosion test two or three days later. If the test is successful, my plan in the branch will be complete by eighty percent. Would you like to go along and see it?”

“I'd love to.” Soundwave answered. Shockwave had been much more open to him on his firearm research than he expected, which made him a little confused, but indeed he hoped to see the explosion test. Besides, he had been moving about Shockwave’s place - several rooms with hidden passages behind the walls and thus no windows – in all these days and really wanted to see the daylight outside. As a spy he had lurked at even darker and more confined places, but being tolerant to those environments by no means suggested that he was comfortable with them.

“I have thought of these and more developments to firearms since five years ago. Only I had no chance to implement them.” Said Shockwave. Five years before was the last year of the Martial Arts World Alliance prior to its destruction by the Decepticons.

“But you supervised all the firearm manufacturing of the Alliance then. How come …” Asked Soundwave, “did Sentinel worry that the new firearms became too powerful and threatened his rule?”

Shockwave nodded. “He only allowed me to make limited improvements to existing firearm designs, but prohibited the ideas for much more powerful weapons. I was really excited with the idea of this bomb and proposed it twice, but he rejected it anyway.”

He raised his left arm slightly and looked down at the hook on it. “Shortly afterwards I became like this, so Sentinel should have planned what to do with me when he had turn down my proposal. Perhaps he was also afraid that we - the reformists and I – would use the new bomb to fight against him.”

Not going along with other high officers of the Alliance in their corruptive deeds, Shockwave had long been an eyesore for them. What gave Sentinel a real excuse to lay hands on him, however, was his protection of the people that opposed the Alliance’s brutality and sought for a reform. He even had secretly informed those reformists to help them escape from the manhunt of the Alliance.

The air in the room turned a little depressing. Then Soundwave broke the silence:

“Back in the Alliance, you had many admirers because of not only your talent and capacity, but - even more importantly - what Sentinel and his like hated you for.”

He lifted the bottom of his mask to the height of a fingerprint, making his voice and tone clearer and not blurred by the mask. This is his expression of sincerity. “I am sure what your admirers thought, as I was among them then.”

“Really.”

Shockwave looked at him and replied slowly. Soundwave’s saying bluntly that he had admired him was more or less surprising. Six or seven years younger than him, Soundwave was still a juvenile just joining the Alliance when he became the Alliance’s Senator. So Soundwave was his junior to some degree. But now they were of equal rank in the Con’s faction.

The pair became silent again for a dozen of seconds. They both saw that Shockwave’s then widely admired character made him little good, but instead incurred his misfortune.

Sentinel did not eliminate Shockwave only because he still needed the latter’s exceptional talent. The Senator got a hand cut off, an eye blinded, and half of his face disfigured. Now the scars on his face had turned pale and winded down to a side of his neck, still faintly visible behind his long forelock put down to cover them. Worse still, they applied Shadowplay – a witchcraft that could kill one’s affections – to him to eradicate his vain hope for saving the people’s suffering under the rule of the Alliance. They wanted to make him an unquestionably obedient flunky of the Alliance. 

Sentinel seemed to have succeeded. After being deprived of his Senator status, Shockwave seemed to have lost not only his emotions, but even his dignity. He just numbly carried out Sentinel’s commands, including many that once had gone against his conscience and he would have refused.

Not until he together with Starscream slaughtered half of the Senators hanging out did others see that his numbness had been just his disguise in preparation of revenge.

“What do you think now? Disappointed with me?”

Shockwave asked again. Those once admiring him should be disappointed with the stone-hearted Decepticon as he was now, right? Even such opinions were not his business.

Then he gave a chuckle. Soundwave stared at his face, not expecting what he saw.

“…Sorry.”

Shockwave awkwardly touched his lip corner. He knew that Soundwave apologized not for clarifying that he had no disappointment with him, but for seeing him laugh. Shockwave used to well control his expressions all the time, but just then he forgot to.

These years, Shockwave had given laughs with his back to the listeners or across rooms, but had never laughed facing others. Soundwave had thought that it was due to the Shadowplay, but now he realized another reason for it.

The right side of Shockwave’s face, not covered by forelock as the left side, was handsome and angular, and his golden eye was stunningly piercing. But if it were not for his laughter, Soundwave would not even know that Shockwave had laughed: his lips seemed to have curved, but absolutely into an abnormal shape, more likely cramping than making any meaningful facial expressions.

The wounds on his maimed left face were too deep. He received several surgeries which had prevented the shrinking of those wounds to drag his right face awry, but still, the wounds pulled up his facial muscles and stopped him from making normal expressions, whether joyful or sad.

"Never mind." Shockwave returned to expressionless, his tone indifferent but not cold. "This has nothing to do with you. It is illogical for you to apologize."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * Disguise masks (人皮面具) are legendry things commonly in Kung Fu fictions for people to disguise as other ones existing or nonexistent in the real world. They can be seen as an ancient version of modern silicone masks, but are made from animal skin.
> 
> ** In ancient China there were bombs to be casted by catapults (which were also referred to ‘artilleries’ then), as well as cannons with metal barrels. As Shockwave is mainly improving the gunpowder, I make him work on the bombs, of which gunpowder takes much larger proportions in mass. Cannonballs have much thicker metal shells and less gunpowder.
> 
> An illustration of this chapter for the scene below:  
> "He lifted the bottom of his mask to the height of a fingerprint, making his voice and tone clearer and not blurred by the mask. This is his expression of sincerity. 'I am sure what your admirers thought, as I was among them then.'"  
> 


End file.
